Leesburg, Va. — With senior starter Steven Trone in complete control, the Rams knew it wouldn’t take much to scratch out a win over Woodgrove in a pivotal Potomac District matchup. A costly, two-out error by the Wolverines and a fifth-inning, two-run home run off the bat of Riverside junior centerfielder Kyle “KJ” Johnson was all the Rams would need as they completed the season sweep of Woodgrove, 3-0, on May 9 in Leesburg.
“With how Steven was pitching, we knew it was going to be a low scoring game,” Riverside head coach Sam Plank said. “But we made plays and got the big hit when we needed it.”
[adrotate banner=”56″]After scoring an unearned run on a dropped pop fly with two outs in the second, the Rams took their 1-0 lead into the fifth when sophomore catcher John Dell’Anno drew a one-out walk.
Then, up to the plate strolled Johnson.
Having struck out looking and grounded out in his first two at-bats, Johnson—a Duke commit—didn’t waste any time, driving the first pitch he saw to deep center field, just left of the scoreboard, as he extended the Rams’ lead to 3-0 with a two-run blast.
“We had a couple of opportunities early, but [Nielsen] kept us off balance,” Plank said. “We just needed to get someone on and then someone needed to step up and get a big hit. KJ delivered the blow.”
Johnson’s home run came on the heels of back-to-back three strikeout innings for Trone as the senior continued to get better as the night went on.
A lengthy leadoff at-bat by Woodgrove senior centerfielder Brady Lane in the top of the first inning resulted in Trone’s first strike out of the night before the sidewinder struck out the side in the fourth, fifth, and eventually seventh innings.
“Steven pitched an amazing game, especially considering they are tough outs,” Plank said. “He was missing off the plate early on, so we brought our catcher back in. Once he started clipping that corner, he was getting in negative counts, and when he gets into negative counts, it’s tough on the hitter.”
Approaching his pitch limit in the seventh, Trone continued to attack the Wolverines’ hitters, and, fortunately for the Rams, continued to miss the Woodgrove bats, ending the night on back-to-back looking Ks.
The win was pivotal for the Rams (7-2, 15-3), who are now in the driver’s seat in the Potomac District with just one game remaining in the regular season.
“If we win Thursday, we clinch, so it’s a big game because it gives us an automatic berth to the region tournament,” Plank said. “We like that we control our own destiny.”
Derrick Jerry captured 150+ photos at the game!
Riverside Batting
| Riverside | AB | H | BB | R | RBI | K |
| John Dell’Anno | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Kyle Johnson | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| Steven Trone | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Cavan McMeans | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Stone Lasseigne | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Tyler Kelly | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Tim Siegel | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Ty Foglesong | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Griffin Farmery | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ryan Pettit | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 22 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 |
Woodgrove Batting
| Woodgrove | AB | H | BB | R | RBI | K |
| Brady Lane | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Tony Cammarota | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Zachary Rice | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Tony Monastero | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Ty Edmondson | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Chris McCullers | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Charlie Krebs | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Ben Tomlinson | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Colin Markey | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Robert Brenneman | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 23 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
Riverside Pitching
| Riverside | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K |
| Steven Trone (W) | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 12 |
| Totals | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 12 |
Woodgrove Pitching
| Woodgrove | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K |
| Joseph Nielsen (L) | 6 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 |
| Totals | 6 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 |